


The Soul Mate Swap

by Talkiermango502



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Politics, Best Friends, College, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Platonic Soulmates, Politics, Romantic Friendship, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-07-18 21:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16127495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talkiermango502/pseuds/Talkiermango502
Summary: At the stroke of midnight every New Years' Eve, every person (from the year of their 18th birthday onwards) swaps bodies with their soul mate for exactly 60 seconds.





	1. Chapter 1 - January 1, x784

**Author's Note:**

> Fairy Tail and all of its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. 
> 
> Please no Nalu/Nali hate. If you hate Natsu with Lucy or Lisanna, this is not the story for you.

January 1, x784

Lucy had always been hopeful about her soul mate. She just couldn’t help it. Surely he would be handsome and caring. Maybe he was a writer and full of mystery and intrigue. She had always been attracted to the intellectual types, so surely her soul mate would fit the bill. 

Upon her first New Year’s Eve the year of her eighteenth birthday, Lucy waited with bated breath for the clock to strike midnight. This was it—she was going to finally get a glimpse of her soul mate’s life and be one step closer to meeting him. 

Lucy stood in the crowd with her friends as they waited for the ball to drop. They were all turning eighteen this year, so all of them would finally partake in the annual soul mate swap. All of them had mixed feelings about this momentous ritual—among them, worry was prevalent. To celebrate their coming of age, the five girls had elected to watch the ball drop after dining in the city. It was a pleasant evening. The air was crisp and salty from the nearby ocean. The crowd that had gathered was rumbling anxiously. 

The countdown began. 

Ten. 

Lucy smoothed her hair and tugged the hem of her skirt lower. 

Nine. 

How was her breath? She didn’t want her soul mate possessing her when there was a nasty taste in her mouth. She hastily popped a mint, chewing quickly. 

Eight. 

She looked over at the anxious faces of her friends as they all huddled together, adjusting their outfits. A few spritzed themselves with perfume nervously. Juvia was nearly melting in place as she hyperventilated. Levy could be seen airing out her armpits anxiously, a terrified look on her face. Cana was taking shots, choosing to drown her fears with alcohol. 

Seven. 

It made Lucy feel better to see her friends panicking just as much as she was. She gave them a reassuring smile and reached out to squeeze Erza’s hand. 

Six. 

Lucy took deep breaths, trying to steady her erratic heartbeat. 

Five. 

Was her soul mate as nervous as she was? 

Four. 

She swallowed. Panic flowing through her body. 

Three. 

She looked up at the descending ball that was counting down to this momentous moment in her life. 

Two. 

Lucy felt her hand being squeezed ruthlessly and looked aside to Erza who was grasping her anxiously. At least none of them were alone in this. 

One. 

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. 

There was a feeling of intense pressure when suddenly her eyes popped open. She was laying slumped on a couch, her face pressed uncomfortably on its edge. It was difficult to focus her eyes. The first thing her eyes settled on was beer bottles strewn all over a living room. Lots of other people were in the room, many of whom seemed just as confused as she was as they awoke in their soul mates bodies. She made to sit upright when a wave of dizziness hit her, instantly churning her stomach. 

Am I drunk? Lucy pondered. She flopped back onto the couch with a groan and closed her eyes, riding out the wave of nausea and dizziness. She tried to rise again, slower this time. She slumped against the back of the couch as she gazed down at herself in wonder. The man’s body was lean. He wore a wrinkled t-shirt and baggy jeans. She gazed around the room, looking for a mirror or similar reflective surface. She slowly dragged herself to her feet, stumbling drunkenly as she tried to make her way to a bathroom. Her new body was not on her side. Sweat began to trickle down her back at the effort she was making to walk. The room around her spun faster and faster, her eyes unable to focus on anything and staring blankly ahead as she tried to focus. Lucy stumbled in her soul mate’s body, bracing herself against a wall as the nausea struck her anew. She heaved, doubling over and panting as she tried to control the contents of her stomach. 

Why was this happening? Why had this idiot gotten this drunk on such an important night?

Lucy continued to curse the boy as she slid to the floor, taking deep breaths and trying desperately to keep from throwing up.

How long has it been? She questioned. Close to a minute she was sure. Lucy watched at the other occupants of the room. Some were running around, trying to leave messages to their soul mate. Others seemed indifferent as they sipped on their drinks. Her head continued to spin and her stomach roiled uncomfortably. She groaned as she slumped to the side, laying like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her body felt so heavy, she could barely control her limbs. When she did finally meet this guy, she was going to give him hell for putting her through this.

Suddenly, Lucy felt the mysterious pressure, causing her stomach to roil again as she gagged. Her gaze was hazy as she came back to consciousness in her own body. Just like that, the uncomfortable feelings of drunkenness were gone as she returned to her own body. She took a deep, cleansing breath, relishing the absence of nausea and inhaling the salty air from the nearby ocean. The crisp, tangy air soothed her, removing the last dregs of nausea she still carried from her soul mate. Lucy glanced aside to where her friends had been standing, her eyes going round as she realized she stood alone. Lucy stood in almost the exact same position she had left her body in. Did her soul mate do nothing in the minute he had swapped bodies? 

It took a while to collect her friends. It seemed their soul mates had taken immediate and hasty action in the minute they were swapped. Cana was the easiest to find as she was shouting angrily for help. Lucy found the inebriated woman halfway up a flag pole, clinging for dear life. Apparently her soul mate had chosen to either place her in a safe place where he could find her or chosen to play an impractical joke on the slightly woozy woman. How he had managed to shimmy his way up that far was a mystery. Cana was less than amused as she yelled down at Lucy to stop laughing and to help her down. 

Erza’s soul mate had run to the nearest street sign. That was pragmatic. Presuming they were in the same city, he could have an idea of where she was located. Juvia was frantically running around collecting her clothes, which her soul mate had presumably chosen to shed. Levy had come to in the bathroom at the convenience store across the street, standing before the bathroom mirror. She was upset that her soul mate had taken immediate action to see what she had looked like. It seemed that when she came to in her soul mates body, she hadn’t been as productive. Her soul mate had been out on a boat with his dog. While the view of the city had been beautiful, it had been essentially unhelpful for her to figure out her surroundings. She did make friends with the dog and managed to read his tag. She had taken great pains to memorize the phone number on the tag, which she had entered into her phone for safekeeping. 

The girls debated what was to be done. Should they wait in their respective waking places and wait for their soul mates to find them—if they were even looking for them, that is. What if they came looking? But, then again, what if they didn’t? They could be thousands of miles away. They could be in another country. Finally deciding not to put their night on hold, the girls chose to pick up some snacks from the convenience store and hang out at the park to discuss their first soul mate swap. The group sat at a picnic table, huddled together in excitement. 

Cana was still raging that she would castrate her idiot soul mate for leaving her halfway up a flag pole. How he had even managed to shimmy up there was a mystery to all of them. It had taken quite a lot to coax the intoxicated Cana back down the pole with the promise of catching her. 

Lucy sat there silently, her lips downturned. Had her soul mate forgotten the importance of tonight? Or did he just not care? Worse yet, had he intentionally drank himself into oblivion? It was their first time swapping bodies. The very least he could do is make it a decent experience for her instead of getting unbearably, wretchedly intoxicated. 

Upon reaching the park, the five girls began to reveal the details of their respective experiences. 

“My soul mate was watching the ball drop on TV with his family,” Erza began. She blushed slightly. “His mother and father were there.”

“What did they say?” Lucy queried.

“They said his name is Jellal.” She smiled as she said his name for the first time. “They told me they live in Midi.” She frowned slightly. Midi was about three-thousand miles away.   
“He’s a few years older, so he’s been waiting for me to come of age. They said he’s been looking forward to this for a long time.” She smiled brightly, blushing deeply. “They introduced me to his younger sister, Meredy. And then they asked me for my phone number and name. They said I would hear from him soon.”

The girls cooed over how cute it all was as Erza blushed to the roots of her red hair. They all began to shout their theories as to what Jellal would do with Erza’s phone number and how they would eventually meet. Erza hadn’t had a chance to get a look at her soul mate—she had been too engrossed in her quick conversation with his parents. 

Levy went next. 

“When I came to, I was on a small boat outside of a city. It was terrifying!” She said, her eyes large. 

“What if he was dumping a body?” Cana joked. 

“Don’t say that!” Levy shouted. “I made friends with his dog. It had a tag, so I memorized the phone number. I looked for his ID or cell phone, but he didn’t have it on him. At least he had a chance to get a look at my face.” She pouted. “He made it impossible for me to even know what he looks like. The water was too dark to see a reflection. But he had long black hair. And I think he’s kind of huge.”

Cana gasped.

“Levy! Did you take a peek at the junk?” Cana exclaimed, leaning over the picnic table and gripping Levy by her shoulders, shaking the little bluenette in excitement.

Levy blushed brilliantly, pulling away from the drunken woman.

“No,” she groaned. “I mean he was really tall! I did not look at his junk.” She emphasized. 

The girls laughed as Levy blustered. 

“Your turn,” Levy smirked, pointing to Cana. “Why did your guy run you up a flag pole?”

Cana laughed.

“When I came to, he was in the middle of downing a keg of beer,” Cana gloated. “I guess it’s true—he’s my soul mate.”

“So, what did you do?” Erza probed. 

“I finished off the keg!” Cana exclaimed, winking. “If he wants to meet me, he’ll need to work for it,” she smirked wickedly. She turned to Lucy. 

“Your turn,” she sniggered, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“There’s not much to say,” Lucy said. “He was really drunk at a party. I almost threw up twice,” she griped. “Ugh! Idiot!”

“Aw, Lucy, I’m sure the next time will be better,” Levy placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Did he do anything when he was in your body?”

“No,” Lucy answered. “I woke in the same place I left my body.”

“He didn’t try to see your reflection or find your location?” Erza asked. 

“Nope,” Lucy said. She was vexed with her soul mate. It wasn’t that she was obsessed with meeting her soul mate like many young women her age were, but it would make her feel better to know he at least tried to see what she looked like or was at all interested in meeting her. And what kind of idiot gets drunk on the night of a soul mate swap? 

“Fuck him,” Cana declared as she took a long swig from her bottle of whiskey. “It’s his loss.” 

“Maybe he was just disoriented,” Levy concluded. “I mean, he was drunk wasn’t he? And sixty seconds isn’t very long. Maybe he hadn’t realized what time it was and it took him a long time to comprehend what had happened.”

“Thanks Levy,” Lucy smiled. Maybe that was true. Lord knows it had taken her a minute to overcome the feelings of drunkenness after being in his body for a whole minute. Granted, she hadn’t accomplished much in his body either. She was too busy trying not to vomit. This thought cheered her up. 

Juvia told her story last. 

“When Juvia came to he was ice skating in the dark and watching the fireworks,” Juvia began. “And he was naked!” Her eyes were as big as saucers and a blush tinted her cheeks.

“What!” the girls squawked. 

“He was only in his underwear and it was freezing!” Juvia continued. 

“Your soul mate is a perv!” Cana accused, pointing at the bluenette. 

“Wait, weren’t you missing clothes when you returned to your body?” Erza questioned, her voice stern and eyebrows raised.

“Well, yes,” Juvia answered. “Juvia was in her undershirt. Her other clothes were scattered.”

“He’s a stripper!” Cana exclaimed, cackling, rocking in her seat.

“He is not a stripper!” Juvia huffed, crossing her arms. “At least he didn’t run Juvia up a flag pole!” she countered, raising her eyebrows in defiance. 

Lucy exchanged a look with Levy. Who would have thought that a shy girl like Juvia would have a soul mate who ice skates around in the dark in nothing but his boxers and has some sort of stripping problem. 

“No, but at least my soul mate isn’t an exhibitionist!” Cana returned, still cackling and waving her whiskey bottle wildly. “Did you get a look at his junk?”

“No!” Juvia groaned, glaring at the girl across from her. 

Cana and Juvia continued to argue back and forth about their respective soul mates as the girls decided to call it a night and they made their way back to Erza’s car. It was tradition to have a movie marathon and sleepover on New Year’s. Lucy’s worries over her soul mate were soon pushed aside as she laughed alongside her friends. Although the first few minutes of the New Year weren’t the best, she knew that the rest of the year would be great. She refused to let it be any less.


	2. January 1, x785

Warning: Mentions of underage drinking and partying. 

January 1, x785

The following soul mate swap began much the same as the first year. The five girls were now turning nineteen and had survived their first semester at college. Many things had changed over the last year and yet somehow remained much the same. Cana was now living with her father, Gildarts, while she attended junior college. The other four girls were attending Magnolia University together and living in the dorms. 

The afternoon after their first soul mate swap, Jellal had phoned Erza. He had politely introduced himself and offered his hope that his family had made her feel welcome and hadn’t interrogated her too badly. After a brief conversation during which Jellal had learned a little about his red headed soul mate, he expressed his interest in getting to know her, despite the distance between them. Erza had expressed similar interest and before they even knew it, the two had patched together a long distance relationship. It had taken a while to get to know each other through phone calls, messaging, and emails, but the two had made it work. Jellal called Erza before their second soul meet swap to let her know that he had a special surprise in store for her this year. He had merely chuckled when Erza had tried to charm him into telling her the surprise. 

Lucy had heard nothing from her soul mate over the last year and hadn’t expected anything from their encounter. She just hoped that he had the common sense not to be roaring drunk this year. Cana was in the same boat. She sincerely hoped her lunatic of a soul mate wouldn’t run her up a flag pole again and kindly asked her friends to make sure there were no climbable objects near to where they chose to watch the ball drop. Juvia just hoped she was fully dressed when she returned to her own body and made sure to put on a few extra layers, just in case. 

Levy had called the phone number she had memorized from the dog’s tag a few times over the last year but had always chickened out before speaking to the man on the other line. A few times she had stayed on long enough to hear his rough voice. It was incredibly deep as it resonated through the phone. Levy had immediately slammed the phone down onto the receiver, too scared to speak. It unnerved her that her soul mate had seen her face but she was still clueless as to his identity. She had his phone number and his area code put him in the same area as she lived. Had she seen him before? They may have even met. What if they had passed by each other in the past year and he knew exactly who she was? It was so unfair. She was determined to see his face this year and crossed her fingers that he was near a mirror this year. 

The group of girls had dinner in the city before they picked a spot in the crowd to await the stroke of midnight. Once again, they would be watching the ball drop on the pier, but it was a lot colder than the previous year. 

Erza was overcome with butterflies and her entire face was flushed. Levy was almost as anxious as she was last year, frantically airing out her armpits with a look of terror on her face. Cana was sipping her beer, trying to discretely check for flag poles that she wanted to avoid. Juvia was checking and re-checking that her clothes were all in place, hoping that the extra layers would keep her soul mate from undressing her. Lucy would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. She dreaded waking up drunk in her soul mate’s body again. It had been such an unpleasant experience last year that it had turned her off from drinking for a long time. It had taken months for her to begin to forget the stomach roiling nausea and the smell of alcohol that had permeated his body. 

The countdown began. Lucy watched with trepidation as the ball sank lower and lower. 

Three. 

Two. 

One.

There was the familiar pressure followed by a piercing pain in her head, keeping time with the beats of her heart. Lucy’s eyes were squeezed shut against the throbbing pain as she groaned in agony. Her stomach churned. She audibly gagged, trying desperately to gain control of the contents of her stomach. 

Lucy was laying on something soft and comfortable. But that’s where the comfort ended. She heard another noise nearby as she slowly tried to roll over beneath the blankets. The movements made her stomach churn. She tried straightening out her body. Her bare leg came into contact with flesh. 

She slithered away, her eyes bulging open. 

“Hello?” A feminine voice asked.

“H-hi,” Lucy stuttered. She was surprised at her voice. It came out much deeper than she was used to hearing. The rumble of it sent a throb of pain through her head, which in turn caused her stomach to roil. 

There was the sound of rustling followed by a click as the other person turned on a light on a bedside table. Lucy groaned as she shielded her eyes against the piercing light. 

“Sorry,” the other person grumbled. It sounded like they were in a similar state of agony. 

Lucy finally removed her hand from her face as she took in her surroundings. She lay in a girl’s bed, judging by the pink covers. She sat up slowly, remembering the pain from last year. 

Naked. 

Lucy was naked.

She was naked in bed with a girl. 

No. Her soul mate was naked in bed with another girl. 

She gasped as she clutched the sheets to her chest, not immediately realizing she didn’t have breasts to cover. The girl on the other side of the bed slowly sat up, the sheet falling down to her naked waist, and they eyed each other carefully.

“Um, you might want to cover up,” Lucy said, gesturing to the girl’s chest and looking away awkwardly. 

Confused, the girl looked down at herself before realizing the situation. 

“Oh,” she said, pulling the sheet up and covering herself. Lucy guessed it was the girl’s soul mate in her body. 

Lucy tried to fight the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her once again. She pulled her knees to her chest, braced her elbows on her knees and then rested her aching head in her hands. 

“Do you know who I am?” the girl in bed beside Lucy asked. Lucy slowly rolled her head to the side to look at the girl. 

“Sorry, I’ve never seen you before,” Lucy responded with a negative shake of her head, which she instantly regretted when she felt stabbing pain. “Do you know who I am?”

“No, sorry,” the girl responded. 

The two continued to sit in awkward silence for a moment before reality hit Lucy. She must only have a matter of seconds left before she switched back. What could she accomplish in that time? 

Carefully wrapping a blanket around her soul mate’s body for modesty and heaving herself from bed, she then braced herself against the waves of nausea and dizziness that hit her anew. Trying not to gag, Lucy stumbled around the room. Scattered on the floor were heaps of discarded clothing. Finding a pair of jeans, Lucy slowly knelt down. The dizziness forced her to brace a hand on the floor to keep from toppling over. Taking deep breaths, she pushed through the accompanying nausea and plopped her bottom on the floor. 

In her drunken state she began to dig through the pockets of the jeans. Her hands weren’t cooperating with her foggy brain and her eyes found it difficult to focus, but she eventually brushed against a wallet. With a small whoop of victory, Lucy quickly tried to extricate the wallet from the pocket, which was much more difficult than she could have ever imagined. 

“Lucy, pull yourself together,” she muttered to herself with a growl. Frowning, she stopped wrestling with the wallet and stared at it menacingly. Then slowly, using all of her powers of concentration, she finally managed to pull the wallet out of the pocket. In that moment, Lucy felt the mysterious pressure return, making her raging headache worse and the nausea return twofold. 

No! She hadn’t had a chance to look in the wallet! And now she would be caught red-handed sitting naked (albeit wrapped in a blanket) on the floor digging through a stranger’s wallet. Oh, no. 

Blinking, Lucy realized she had returned to her own body. Once again, she stood in the same place she had left her body. It seems that her soul mate was no more interested in locating her than he was last year. This time she wasn’t alone when she came to. Erza stood beside her, blinking in confusion. 

“Are you alright, Lucy?” Erza asked. 

She nodded. There were still a small remnant of nausea but she wasn’t sure if it was lingering from the drunkenness or from embarrassment over being caught going through her soul mate’s wallet. She was probably looking a little green. 

The two girls set out to find their missing friends. 

They heard angry shouting and followed its sound to the beach beside the pier. Shivering and looking like a drowned rat, Cana waded through the water, spewing profanities. Her clothes were piled at the entrance to the beach, hastily strewn in the sand. Cana stood in only her bra and underwear, an angry scowl on her face. Lucy and Erza quickly rushed around the end of the pier and onto the beach to help collect Cana’s clothes and pull the bedraggled woman out of the cold ocean water. 

“I’m going to kill that bastard when I find him!” Cana shouted. The water was ice cold on this chilly night. “I’m going to get him back next year,” she vowed, stumbling out of the dark water. 

“Lucy!”

Lucy turned to see Levy leaning over the pier, gazing down at the trio at the beach. She waved before she disappeared, making her way around to the stairs at the end of the pier. 

“He left me out on a boat again!” Levy pouted, stomping her small foot in the sand once she approached the group. Lucy laughed, patting her friend on the shoulder sympathetically. 

“Where’s Juvia?” Erza asked. Levy shrugged. 

Cana quickly pulled her pants on over her wet underwear, but elected to wander in only her blue bra. She argued it was warmer than letting her shirt get soaking wet. The foursome made their way back to the pier, calling for Juvia and taking turns calling her cell phone. 

They stood in befuddlement on the pier, looking for their blue haired friend. 

“What’s that?” Levy asked, pointing at the ground some distance away. 

Cana jogged over to have a look. She bent down and then straightened with a royal blue shirt in her hand. 

“It’s Juvia’s!” Cana exclaimed as the girls joined her and huddled around the discarded clothing article. “That stripper of hers must have taken it off!”

“That pervert!” Erza growled. “I will teach him a lesson when we meet,” she vowed. 

The group stood in shock as they looked around for their now-shirtless friend. 

“Knowing Juvia, she would have freaked if she found herself nearly naked in public,” Levy reasoned. “She must have ducked in somewhere to hide. She might not even have her cell phone.”

With this logic, the group spread out, trying to cover as much ground as possible. 

Lucy searched through the stores along the pier, calling out Juvia’s name as she went. 

A text came through from Erza. Found her skirt. West end of the pier. 

Lucy began to make her way toward Erza, continuing to look in stores as she went. 

Her phone buzzed again, this time from Levy. Pair of shoes, look like hers. I’m near the end of the pier by the viewing area. 

Where was he headed when he was in Juvia’s body? Lucy had a sudden thought. Perhaps he was making his way to the restrooms near the end of the pier?

With this in mind, Lucy began to make her way out of the store and toward the restrooms, searching for discarded clothing like some sort of bread crumb trail leading her to her lost friend. 

There! Lucy spied Juvia’s handbag lying in a flower bed near to the entrance of the restrooms. She jogged over, quickly pulling it from beneath the small shrubs. She quickly dug through the purse. Looks like everything is here, she thought. At least nothing had been stolen. 

She quickly texted the rest of the girls, letting them know she’d found the purse in the flower bed by the restrooms. She received a few responses that the girls were headed her way. 

Going alone, Lucy made her way to the restrooms. 

“Juvia?” Lucy called, walking into the women’s restroom. She peeked under the stall doors. 

“Juvia, are you in here?” she called again. No bare feet stuck down where she could see. Strange. Lucy was sure she would be in here. Hold on a second….

Exiting the restroom, Lucy walked to matching door beside the ladies room. Lucy stood, deliberating for a moment at the entrance to the men’s restroom. 

“Lucy!” she heard Erza calling her. 

“Over here!” she called back, waving across the pier at the girls who were turning on the spot, looking for the blonde. 

They made their way over.

“What are you doing?” Cana asked, wondering why their blonde friend was staring intently at the men’s restroom. “I think you’re looking for the one to your right, blondie. Unless you have something to tell us?” she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“I-I think Juvia’s soul mate might have tried to run to find a mirror but instead of running to the women’s restroom….” Lucy trailed off. 

“That idiot!” Erza growled. 

“Juvia!” Levy called. She stood four feet from the door as if scared to come any closer. 

Cana rolled her eyes. 

“Oh for Mavis’ sake,” she said, strolling casually past Levy to pull open the door. 

“Juvia!” Cana announced as she walked in, unconcerned by the few men utilizing the urinals at the time. Levy flushed red, covering her face with her hands as she quickly followed Cana. Lucy also blushed, avoiding looking at the men who turned curiously toward the women who were invading their restroom. Erza had a slight blush on her face but elected to wait in the doorway, using her body to prop the door open. 

“Juvia!” Cana called, strolling through the restrooms and peeking under the stall doors. 

“Cana?” they heard a trembling voice. 

“Juvia!” the girls all called in unison, rushing to the stall where the voice came. 

“Th-thank Mavis!” they heard Juvia shuffling behind the door as she unlocked the door. The door creaked open an inch, revealing a bright blue eye and blue hair. 

“Juvia, we have your clothes,” Levy reassured her, reaching out and offering the clothes to the nearly naked girl. 

Juvia was flushed and her face was tear-stained. 

“Th-thank you, Levy!” she warbled. Fresh tears sparkled in her eyes as she hastily took the clothes, fighting to keep the door from opening wider than she had to in order to accept the clothes. 

Quickly she shut the door and the rustling of changing clothes could be heard. 

“Juvia, what happened to you?” Lucy asked. 

“J-Juvia does not know,” Juvia wailed. “Juvia woke up in her underwear by the mirror and there were strange men around so Juvia ran into the stall to hide!”

“Oh, Juvia, we’re so sorry!” Levy sympathized, clasping her hands before her chin. She really felt for the shy girl. 

“Juvia wa-was so scared!” Juvia stuttered. “She didn’t know where she was and she didn’t have a phone.” 

“It’s alright Juvie,” Levy called to her. “It’s all over now and we were able to find all of your stuff!” Levy tried to cheer her friend up. 

Finally, the door opened and Juvia emerged from the stall. Her face was still tear-stained, but she was now fully clothed. 

“Juvia stood on the dirty floor barefoot,” she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She was still holding her shoes in her hand. 

“Here,” Erza said. She finally abandoned her post as door stop and quickly wet a paper towel in the sink. 

“Hop up here,” Cana patted the top of the sink. Quickly making sure the counter was dry, Juvia hopped up. 

Erza squirted some soap onto the wet towel and handed it to the bluenette who quickly began to scrub her feet meticulously as if she was trying to scrub out the memory of the last twenty minutes. Rinsing her now soapy, but clean, feet in the sink, Juvia asked for another towel with which she dried her feet. Slipping her shoes back on, the bluenette hopped down from the sink, slightly more cheerful now that she was clean and fully clothed. 

Thoroughly exhausted from their adventure, the five girls made their way to Erza’s car, choosing to discuss their soul mate swap where they had access to a heater. They climbed into the small car, huddling near the vents and shivering. Erza and Levy sat in the front seats, the rest of the girls were piled in the back .Cana, who was still dressed in a jacket over her bra, began leaning across Lucy’s lap as she struggled to remove her bulky coat and then reached behind her back to her bra clasp. 

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked, immediately suspicious of her brunette friend. 

“Taking my bra off,” Cana answered, unashamed, as she struggled to reach behind her in the cramped car. 

“Do not strip in my car!” Erza snarled from the front seat, turning to face Cana. 

“But my bra is wet!” Cana argued. “And watch where you’re driving!”

“Cana, no!” Lucy squealed as the brunette continued to wrestle with her awkward position in the middle seat. 

“Cana, yes!” Cana said, chuckling to herself. 

Juvia and Lucy took action, immediately wrestling with their friend and shrieking for her to keep her bra on. Cana wiggled, trying to escape.

“Lucy, your boobs are smothering me!” Cana shrieked, laughing. 

“Shut up about my boobs!” Lucy huffed. Cana continued to wiggle, trying to bend her arms back far enough unclasp her bra.

The trio wrestled until they were all slightly sweaty and out of breath. 

“I give!” Cana relented, huffing. The girls laughed, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t try to reach behind her again. 

The group chatted animatedly on the rest of the drive home, Cana griping loudly about finding herself nearly naked in the ice cold ocean in the middle of the night and Juvia countering her with the argument of finding herself nearly naked in a men’s restroom. 

The group of girls finally made it back to their dorms where they quickly unloaded from the car and sprinted across the lawn, shrieking loudly from cold. Finally settling in the dormitory and pulling out the necessary chips and drinks, the girls came to rest in the small living area and turned on the TV.

“Erza, did you find out what your surprise was?” Lucy asked, choosing to interrupt her bickering friends. She had noticed that Erza had been looking at her phone a lot and guessed she was texting Jellal. 

“Jellal made my favorite cake,” Erza glowed. “Strawberry shortcake and he left a note.” Her happiness was evident in the smile on her face. 

“What did his note say?” Levy squealed. 

“That he hopes we can meet by next year and maybe even spend New Year’s together for the next swap,” Erza said shyly, blushing red to the roots of her scarlet hair. 

“Aw, good for you, Erza,” Levy cooed. 

“Is he texting you right now?” Lucy probed. 

“Y-yes,” Erza stuttered. Cana sniggered before the girls turned their attention to Juvia. 

“Juvia’s soul mate was at a party,” Juvia began. “He was in his boxers drinking beer and there were a lot of people around.”

“Pervert!” Cana snorted. 

“What did you do while you were in his body?” Levy asked. 

“Juvia found a mirror,” Juvia said as Levy squealed in excitement. “Juvia’s soul mate is gorgeous,” she said smugly. 

“What does he look like?” Lucy asked. 

“Why is Love Rival interested?” Juvia said, beginning to exude a dark aura. Lucy put her hands up in surrender, backing away from the angry bluenette. 

“I-I’m not interested, Juvia!” Lucy exclaimed. “I’m just excited that you saw your soul mate.” This seemed to placate the female as her threatening aura disappeared and a smile returned to her face. 

“Juvia’s soul mate has black hair and dark blue eyes,” Juvia continued as the girls giggled excitedly. 

Cana winked conspiratorially. 

“Come on, you said he was just in his boxers! You checked him out didn’t you?” she said.

“He is nice to look at,” Juvia said, turning rather shy. Cana guffawed. Trying to direct everyone’s attention elsewhere, Juvia moved the conversation on to Levy.

“He put me on a boat again,” Levy groaned. “It was the exact same as last year. When I came to, he was in the bathroom at the mirror again.”

“Did he leave a note for you or anything?” Juvia asked. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Levy frowned. 

As Levy continued to mentally search for clues, the attention turned to Lucy. 

“My soul mate was passed out drunk,” Lucy frowned. “He was naked and in bed with a girl! And I almost threw up again!”

“Did you get a peek at his junk?” Cana asked.

“Of course not!” Lucy exclaimed. “Do you have to ask that every year?” She rolled her eyes at her friend. “I found his jeans and tried to get a look at his ID but I switched back before I had a chance to open his wallet. When he came to, I was on the floor with his wallet.” She made a face. She was still embarrassed. It was sort of an unwritten rule that those who swapped shouldn’t invade their soul mate’s privacy too much and here she was, in his naked body and digging through his wallet. 

“I applaud your stalker skills,” Cana grinned. 

“I wasn’t stalking!” Lucy defended. She huffed out her cheeks in annoyance, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

“What else did you find out?” Erza prompted. 

“Nothing else,” Lucy shook her head. 

“You should have gotten a peek at his goods,” Cana reprimanded her. “Put those stalker skills to good use,” she winked. 

“Ew, Cana!” Lucy groaned, blushing. “Can’t you keep your perverse comments to yourself?” she begged. 

“Nope,” Cana grinned. 

Lucy and Cana continued to bicker back and forth over the sounds of the TV, complaining loudly about their respective soul mates. 

“What if we pulled a trick on them next year?” Cana suggested a while later. 

The girls looked at her, eyebrows raised. 

“Be serious, Cana.” Levy said. “What on earth could we possibly do to them?”

“No, hold on Lev,” Lucy said. “Cana is on to something here.”

“Well, it seems that my soul mate’s goal each year is to annoy me to death or kill me with some stupid stunt,” Cana grumbled. “And Lucy’s soul mate can’t hold his liquor for the night. Juvia’s soul mate is a perv,” Juvia huffed from her spot on the couch. “And Levy, maybe your soul mate intentionally puts you on a boat each year so you can’t do anything?”

“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that,” Levy said. “And meanwhile he’s running around in my body. Do you know he didn’t even have ID on him? I checked. No cell phone and no wallet. I even tried to get the boat’s license number but it had been removed. Do you think it was intentional?”

“I have no doubt,” Lucy said. “We have to get them back for this!”

The girls spent the rest of the night scheming and thinking up ways to get back at the boys. There was no way they were putting up with this treatment without a fight. The first rays of sunlight were just peeking over the horizon when the girls finally began to doze off. Lucy smiled around the room at her friends who were sprawled out on any available spot. She giggled to herself, thinking about the events of the last twelve hours before she finally drifted off to sleep. She was woken a few hours later by Erza yelling at Cana for spilling beer on the carpet. There was never a dull moment with these girls. Lucy laughed, watching Erza chase the still-bra-clad brunette around the dorm before Lucy pulled one of the couch pillows over her head and tried to go back to sleep.


	3. January x785

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of underage drinking and partying.

January x785

The girls plotted mercilessly over the next few weeks. Lucy and Cana were fueled by indignant rage at their soul mates and frequently had to be reined in by the other girls when their scheming became too dangerous or began to endanger innocent civilians. 

Juvia seemed to be scarred from the entire experience and had taken to wearing even heavier, more conservative clothing. When asked why, she said she was worried that her soul mate’s stripping habit might rub off on her and she never wanted to find herself naked in public ever again.

A few weeks after the soul mate swap, Levy discovered a new contact had mysteriously appeared in her phone’s contact list. She had been scrolling through her contacts, looking for someone in particular when an unfamiliar name caught her eye. Gajeel. Who was Gajeel? She strained her memory, frowning as she went through her mental database of names and faces. Clicking on the name, Levy scrolled through the contact details. There was an unknown number listed but no last name to help her identify the owner. 

Wait, Levy’s attention was snagged by something at the bottom of the contact. There was a note: “Soul Mate.” Her heart began to beat nervously in her chest. So this is what he did during the soul mate swap, Levy thought to herself. He’d given her his number but it somehow felt like it had been a challenge. 

For the rest of the day, Levy continued to glance at the contact. It was a different phone number than what she had memorized on the dog’s tag a year ago. Did he change his number? Or was this merely his cell phone number? 

That evening, Levy sat in the library where she kept snatching glances at her phone. She was growing frustrated. Should she text him? He had obviously extended a challenge to her. How should she respond? It was apparent she wasn’t going to be able to focus on her studies tonight. 

Sighing, she snatched her phone off the library table and began to draft a text to him. Finally deciding to keep it concise, she typed a message before stopping to deliberate. Her heart fluttered nervously. 

“Clever,” the message read. She took a deep breath and then hit send, immediately putting the phone face down on the table and returning to her books. But it didn’t help. Her eyes kept sneaking back to the phone and her thoughts wouldn’t cooperate. 

Sighing in frustration with herself, she picked up the phone and turned it over to see the screen.

“Gihi,” she read off the small screen.

“Gihi?” she muttered to herself, confused. What did “gihi” mean? Was it a name? Levy frowned in confusion. 

Her phone buzzed again. 

“Took you a while, Shrimp,” he responded. 

“Shrimp?” Levy shrieked quietly to herself, indignant. 

She angrily began to type, fueled by his taunt. 

“I don’t appreciate the nickname. I’m not seafood,” she typed and hit send. 

It seemed like only a matter of seconds before she received a response. 

“Gihi,” he responded.

There it was again. What was “gihi?” Levy frowned, rereading the word again and again. 

“You’re annoying,” Levy sent. Her indignation was making her blunt. 

“If you say so Shrimp,” popped up on her screen as her phone buzzed again. She could practically hear him laughing at her. 

“Ugh!” Levy groaned. This man was insufferable. She was still irate that he had been toying with her during the soul mate swap. She glared at her phone. 

“I’m done with this conversation. I have things to do,” she punched the send button with her thumb. 

“Am I distracting you, Shrimp? Gihi.” His response was nearly instantaneous. Is he laughing at me? Levy wondered. 

“No. And stop calling me Shrimp!” She typed, grumbling to herself. 

“No, I don’t think I will. It suits you. Gihi.” Another quick response was received.

“I have a name, you know!” Levy typed in response, rolling her eyes in aggravation.

“Actually, I don’t. Or did you forget you haven’t told me. Gihi.” Is it possible to hear the laughter in a voice you’ve never heard before? Because Levy was sure this man was cackling. 

“You know what, on second thought, I don’t want to tell you my name,” she furiously typed before hitting send. 

“So you like it when I call you ‘Shrimp?’” he responded.

“Levy! My name is Levy. Now stop calling me ‘Shrimp!’” she hastily texted. 

There was no response from Gajeel for almost a minute, during which Levy grew nervous. His responses thus far had been nearly instantaneous. Frustrated with his suddenly lengthy pause, Levy tossed her phone aside, deciding to return to her studies. 

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. 

I’m going to ignore it, Levy thought to herself. There was no need to respond to the man if he insisted on calling her “Shrimp.” A few minutes later, she found herself staring at the phone. Finally giving into her curiosity, she snagged it again. 

“Levy.” He responded.

“I like that.” A small smile lifted the corners of Levy’s mouth, quickly to be wiped away by irritation. 

“It suits a shrimp like you. Gihi.” 

“Ugh!” Levy groaned, furrowing her little blue brows. She put her face in her hand, muttering incoherently about insufferable men and ridiculous nicknames. A thought suddenly made her laugh. 

“That’s not fair. I don’t have a nickname for you,” Levy responded in her text, a smirk making its way to her lips. 

“Pudding? Dollface? How about Gajy? Gajykins?” She sent her message, her smirk growing wider and wider. She could almost feel the force of his reaction and she chuckled to herself. 

“WHAT!? No. Do I look like a Dollface to you?” His response was immediate. She laughed quietly to herself, nearly forgetting she was in a library. 

“Well, seeing as how you left me on a boat in the dark with no ID, phone, or mirror, I guess I don’t actually know what you look like,” Levy responded in text. She quickly typed a second message. “Guess you’ll just have to show me your face so I can get a better idea of a nickname for you, Kitten.”

“I am not a kitten,” he responded. She could almost hear him pout. 

“Could have fooled me, Love Muffin.” She chuckled quietly. 

“How can something as tiny as a shrimp be so aggravating?” he grumbled through his text. 

“You don’t like my nicknames for you, Love Monkey?” she typed, giggling. 

“I don’t need to be insulted in this way,” he texted back. 

“You brought this on yourself, Sugar,” Levy replied. “While this has been a lovely conversation, I have better things to do than torment you. Bye, Monkey,” Levy typed and hit send. 

“Bye for now, Shrimp,” he responded. 

Levy laughed to herself, returning to her studies. For the rest of the evening she would find herself spontaneously bursting into quiet chuckles as she relived her conversation with Gajeel.

When Levy returned to the dorms that evening, she found Erza and Cana had come over to the dorm she shared with Lucy. The girls were piled on the beds, huddled around a computer they were watching Netflix on, even though they were chatting animatedly over the sounds of the movie. 

“Levy!” Cana hollered, waving her bottle of whiskey around her head. 

“Hey Lev,” Lucy waved. Erza offered the bluenette a stern nod. 

“Hi!” Levy chirped as she piled her enormous load of books onto the desk by her bed. “Where’s Juvia?”

Lucy gestured to the adjoining dormitory. 

“She just got back from the pool,” Lucy explained distractedly as she tried to keep Cana from spilling whiskey on her bed sheets.

“Juvia is here!” Juvia called from the adjoining bathroom, waving an arm and poking her head out to smile at Levy, a towel wrapped around her blue hair. Then she withdrew back into the bathroom, closing the door. 

“Guys, I’m bored!” Cana whined. “Can we go out tonight?”

“Cana, it’s Tuesday,” Lucy frowned. “We have class in the morning and you have work.”

“There’s no rule that says I can’t get laid on a Tuesday, Blondie,” Cana smirked as Lucy’s jaw dropped. 

“How was the library, Levy?” Erza asked, interrupting Lucy before she could argue with Cana. 

“Good!” Levy said, a slight blush making its way to her cheeks. “Um, I texted my soul mate.”

The reaction was instantaneous. Erza’s jaw nearly hit the floor. Cana whooped, sloshing whiskey on herself and Erza. Lucy nearly fell off the bed as she scrambled to Levy, grabbing her by her shoulders. 

“How? I thought you didn’t get his number? Did you meet him? What’s he look like? What happened? Tell me!” Lucy’s stream of questions was interrupted by Juvia walking into the room. 

“Levy, what is going on?” Juvia asked, a confused expression marring her brow as she looked around at the girls while she toweled her hair. Cana was hastily mopping up her spilled whiskey from Erza’s blouse under Erza’s dark aura and piercing glare. Lucy was jumping on Levy, nearly strangling the poor girl. 

“Levy texted her soul mate!” Lucy squealed, turning to the other bluenette. 

“Juvia is so happy for Levy!” Juvia exclaimed. 

“Thanks Juvia!” Levy chirped, her face still rather flushed. 

“Tell us what happened!” Cana whined. She had finished cleaning up Erza’s blouse and the girls’ attention was solely centered on the small bluenette. 

“I found a new contact in my phone,” Levy began. “He put it in while we were swapped. I texted him and then he started calling me ‘Shrimp!’” Levy said indignantly. “So I suggested a few nicknames I could call him. I don’t think he liked them,” she grinned wickedly. 

Cana began cackling. 

“Oh, I have some suggestions he might like,” Cana winked. 

“I somehow don’t think those are the kinds of nicknames Levy wants to use,” Lucy hastily chimed in.

“What else?” Juvia prompted. 

“Nothing else, really,” Levy shrugged. “I told him I had things to do and we left it at that.” 

“I don’t believe you! Give me your phone!” Lucy attacked the small bluenette, wrestling for the phone before walking away with it victoriously raised over her head. She sat on the bed beside Cana who quickly scrambled closer to read over Lucy’s shoulder. 

“Guys!” Levy blushed, embarrassed. 

“Are you going to keep talking to him?” Erza asked. 

“I don’t know,” Levy said, crossing her arms and looking down at the floor. 

“What does ‘gihi’ mean?” Lucy looked up at Levy, puzzled. 

“I think it might be his laugh,” Levy suggested, shrugging. 

“Oh!” Lucy and Cana cooed together, cackling as they read through the messages and began to read them aloud using seductive voices. 

“Could have fooled me, Love Muffin,” Lucy used her best attempt at a low husky voice as she read the conversation aloud. 

“Guys! Stop!” Levy pouted. “Okay, that’s enough.” She marched over to her friends who hurriedly stood on the bed and ran away from the angry bluenette, giggling. 

Levy continued to chase the two girls around the dormitory as they laughingly read snatches of the conversation off Levy’s phone, handing the phone back and forth between them as Levy blushed red and stormed after them. Juvia and Erza clambered further onto the bed, staying away from the running girls. 

“Love Monkey!” Lucy cooed, laughing as she jumped onto Levy’s bed to escape her flustered friend. “That’s a good one!” 

“I have a better one!” Cana cackled. She had collapsed onto the floor with her bottle of whiskey while the blonde and the bluenette continued to run around the dormitory. She took a swig from her whiskey bottle. “How about—“

“No! No!” Levy interrupted. “I don’t think I want to hear your suggestions!”

Having finished reading the conversation, Lucy tossed the phone to Levy before collapsing onto the bed, breathing heavily. Levy was still flushed, but laughing at her friends’ antics. 

“He ended it with ‘bye for now,’ so he obviously intends to keep texting you,” Lucy said from her spot on the bed. 

“He was texting you back quickly too,” Erza said. “He’s obviously interested.”

“You should send him some naked pictures,” Cana suggested wickedly. “Show him the goods. Bet he’d be interested in that,” she winked. 

“C-Cana!” Erza shrieked, blushing. She often became uncomfortable with sexual discussions, even amongst her friends. 

“Don’t corrupt sweet Levy!” Lucy said, reaching over to cover Levy’s ears with her hands. 

“Guys!” Levy said, blushing, swatting Lucy’s hands away. “Can’t we have just one normal conversation without Cana’s suggestions?” Levy groaned, hiding her blush behind her hands.

“Has Levy told Jet and Droy yet?” Juvia asked Levy, saving her from the uncomfortable conversation. 

“No,” Levy groaned. Before the first soul mate swap, the two boys had argued endlessly over which of them would be Levy’s soul mate. They were both quite distraught that her soul mate had ended up being a stranger and eagerly tried to avoid any talk about her soul mate. However, it would probably be best if she at least let them know that she had made contact with the mysterious soul mate. 

“Do they still avoid talking about it?” Erza asked sympathetically. 

“Yes,” Levy confirmed. She rolled her eyes slightly.

It was just like those boys to be overly dramatic about something as trivial as soul mates. Each of the boys had confessed to her a couple of years ago, feelings that Levy simply did not return. The boys still supported her and cared deeply for her no matter what. For that she was grateful. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if the confessions had created awkward tension amongst them, or worse yet, torn their friendship apart. 

“Guys, let’s go out,” Cana whined, bored with the uneventful turn in conversation. 

After some bickering, Lucy agreed to take a couple of shots with Cana and in exchange, the alcoholic would concede to go home or spend the night in the girls’ dorms and drop the topic of going out to the clubs. All of the girls had class in the morning and Cana had work, so a late night of drinking and dancing really wasn’t in the cards for them. 

Lucy and Cana disappeared into the small kitchen area of the dormitory where the sounds of girly shrieks were soon heard. Levy, Erza, and Juvia lay haphazardly on Lucy’s small bed, huddled around the computer. The girls had soon given up on watching Netflix what with the loudness of Lucy and Cana’s shrieks from the kitchen area but were soon engaged in animated conversation amongst themselves. Soon Lucy came blundering into the living area, just tipsy enough to be a hazard, and threw herself onto the pile of girls on the bed. 

“Help me Levy,” Lucy groaned, burying her face in a pillow.

“Cana! Did you give Lucy tequila again?” Erza demanded, rising from her spot on the bed. Lucy hiccupped and giggled into the pillow, muttering dazedly.Cana shrugged from her spot against the doorway, snorting as she watched Lucy struggling with her alcohol consumption. Levy reached over and gently rubbed Lucy’s back, trying to calm her friend’s giggles. 

“Juvia, come drink!” Cana wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “We’ll see if your soul mate’s stripping habit has indeed rubbed off on you.” She winked. Juvia clutched the top of her blouse as if fearful it would suddenly find its way off her body. Cana cackled. 

Levy didn’t look at her phone for the rest of the night as she spent her time laughing with her friends. Soon, Erza had ushered the girls off to bed, reminding them that reality would be waiting for them bright and early in the morning. Levy didn’t even glance at her phone as she hooked it up to its cord and crawled into bed. 

It wouldn’t be until the following morning as she was rushing off to class—Cana’s morning antics causing all the girls to run late in the morning—that she noticed a new message on her phone. Heart fluttering, a smile grew on Levy’s face as she read the text from her soul mate. She took a deep breath of the crisp winter air, her smile making her eyes bright and a happy blush lighting her cheeks. 

Today was going to be a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
